Imperial Exam Daily

After sitting in the carriage for a day, my whole body became exhausted, and the bumps on the road were always uncomfortable. Fortunately, Axi sewed soft cushions, which could alleviate some of the discomfort.

Every time he arrived at a post station, Yang Ye stopped the carriage to rest for a while, fed the horses with fodder, and the people also rested and drank water.

Although he set off with the latest batch of examinees, he still caught up with a lot of scholars who left early in the station, including those from their county town and many other county towns. There are dozens of examinees at least and hundreds of examinees in a county or county, and the post stations along the way are occupied by scholars.

During the exam season, the tea sheds in these post stations are always full, and unscrupulous merchants will raise prices in advance. In half a month, they can make enough money for two or three months in the off-season, and poor scholars are driven away. Lu couldn't even drink tea.

Yang Ye didn't bring Axi into the tea shed, instead he gave Xiaoer a few pennies to fill up their water bottle. He and Axi walked outside, slowly sitting tired for a day.

"We'll be there in half a day. We'll be able to enter the provincial capital before dark. Let's ask the driver to hurry up later."

Axi nodded, and was very obedient along the way.

When he was about to get on the carriage, Yang Ye saw an unknown tree blooming outside the tea shed. He went up to break one and gave it to Axi: "The weather near the provincial capital is warmer than that of Wenyang City. , There are still flowers blooming at this time of year.”

As soon as Axi got out of the carriage, he wrapped himself up tightly. The weather here is indeed warmer. The weather in July and August was already hot, and his vest was sweating. The traces of Yang Ye's gnawing, he had no choice but to wrap himself up obediently.

Holding the flowers that Yang Ye folded, he said, "Let's hurry, let's hurry and go to the provincial capital to rest earlier."

"it is good."

On the road in the afternoon, Axi was knocked over by the carriage and was very drowsy. He didn't close his eyes a few times last night, and now he was a little sleepy. He fell asleep with his head on Yang Ye's shoulder while sitting.

Yang Ye looked at Ah Xi who had a somewhat ruddy face beside him, put the book in his hand aside, carefully supported the boy's head to let people lie on his lap to sleep, and took the small stall stacked aside for him. The person covered it: "I was even asked to study on the road, why did I dodge myself and fell asleep?"

Around the time of You, he opened the sedan chair curtain and could see the gate of the provincial capital from a distance. Officers and soldiers were stationed outside the tall towers. During the days of the rural examination, there were more soldiers stationed than usual, and occasionally they had to check , This is much more grand than their small county town.

When he was about to reach the gate of the city, he woke up Axi. The sleepy look of the young man was pitiful, so he gave him some water.

"Going to the city, I need to find out who is taking a sedan chair. I will arrive at the inn soon, and I will sleep when the time comes."

Ah Xi rubbed his eyes and responded. At this time, the carriage stopped and had already arrived at the gate of the city. After some inquiries, there were still carriages lined up behind. The officers and soldiers also interrogated for a whole day. Checked and let go.

The inn that Yang Cheng decided on was a big inn, and he found it just by asking around in the city.

It wasn't until Yang Ye arrived that he realized that it was really unusually big. An ordinary inn is just a small building with several floors, but this inn called Laimengju has four small buildings, which form an open square , the carriage stopped at the door, and immediately, Xiao Er came up to lead the horse, very attentive.

After Yang Ye talked about his situation, Xiao Er led the people to the front desk to check in, took the number of the room, and Xiao Er led the way with a salute.

"We come to Mengju to receive a lot of scholars every three years. Building No. [-] is the quietest, and there is a large courtyard outside for scholars to read. Your room is booked early, it is big and spacious, and now you can book it. It's not here."

While introducing the inn, Xiaoer said: "Xiucai can stay at ease, just call me if you need anything, and I will do my best for you if I can."

Yang Ye's room is in the innermost room on the second floor. It is exactly as Xiao Er said, it is very quiet and the environment is not bad. He can see the garden when he opens the window. He is very satisfied, and after giving Xiao Er a little reward , sent him to boil hot water.

Ah Xi didn't stay idle when he entered the room, and tidied up the things he brought one by one.

The two of them were very tired the first day. After washing with hot water, Xiao Er sent the meals to the guest room. After eating, the two of them went to rest early, and they didn't feel noisy at night. It was a good last night after being extremely tired. Sleep, wake up early the next day.

When Yang Ye was washing his face, he opened the window and saw that there were already many candidates studying and reading in the garden. There were more than [-] people in the garden alone. He asked the waiter about it, and said that there were hundreds of scholars living in their inn alone. , one can imagine how many people took the exam.

Candidates have to come out in batches every three years, and if they fail once, they will take the exam twice or three times. This way, the number of candidates accumulated year by year is huge. I heard that in the early years, the imperial court gave more than two taels of silver to the grannies every month, rice and grain. It is twice as much as it is now, but with the emphasis on scientific research and the increase in the number of scholars, the imperial court felt a lot of pressure, and the food and salaries for grannies gradually decreased.

It has become normal for so many poor students to study hard. For this reason, the imperial court also took measures to relieve them, such as free employment. The scope of work and employment can be said to be very narrow.

There are fewer capable things, and the competition is great. In the end, many scholars are scrambling to do it, but it is clear to ordinary people who have not studied. Later, the imperial court reduced the food and salary, which relaxed the employment channels for scholars.

Although it has been relaxed, the court still does not allow scholars to do some unscrupulous business.

Ah Xi washed up so that he saw Yang Ye staring out of the window without blinking, thinking that Yang Ye felt that there were too many students taking the exam, which made him feel pressured.

How can there be no pressure? The county seat is not as good as the provincial capital. In the county seat, you have a head and face, but in the provincial capital you may become an ordinary person. Excellent candidates from the entire province gather together, so it is inevitable that you will feel embarrassed.

When he was about to speak comforting words, Yang Ye closed the window: "Let's go out and take a look outside the Gongyuan, so as not to be unfamiliar with the time."

Axi agreed, and the two of them changed into a set of simple clothes. In fact, the clothes made of good materials in the county town are nothing in the provincial capital. Just add some unnecessary right and wrong, so keep a low profile as much as possible.

The provinces like to build tribute courtyards in the southeast of the city. This tribute courtyard is also the examination room for the rural examination. Laimengjuli can see the roof of the tribute courtyard from above the third floor. Although it is not far away, it is actually separated by many streets and alleys. for a while.

Xiao Er, who took care of their guest room, said that he wanted to find a carriage for the two of them, but Yang Ye refused, and walked around to see if there was any point in making a carriage, so Xiao Er had no choice but to give up and show them the way.

The provincial capital is twice as big as Wenyang County, and the street market is also very lively, gorgeous carriages come and go, and there are countless girls and boys in gorgeous clothes, and the folk customs are much more open than the small county town, girls and brothers The son is looking for a man, his eyes are straight and undisguised, and he will cover his mouth and laugh.

This exam season is the busiest. Girls and boys love to go out. They are all dressed up like flowers. They look at the scholars, and the scholars also look at them. If they are really destined, they may even make a marriage.

As they walked and watched, it took two quarters of an hour for the two of them to arrive outside the tribute courtyard. There was a large plaque hanging in the middle of the gate, with the words tribute courtyard written on it in a bold manner.

Yang Ye looked at the surrounding facilities. There are many restaurants, medicine shops, and bookstores. There are also many scholars shopping here.

Seeing Yang Ye stop, Ah Xi asked: "I, shall we go to see the books?"

"No, you have organized the bookshelves at home very neatly, and there is nothing missing."

As soon as Yang Ye finished speaking, he heard someone from the bookstore in front calling him excitedly: "Yang Ye!"

He looked up, and it turned out to be Wen Han and Li Cheng, who had set off earlier than him, so they unexpectedly met here.

Several people found a small restaurant to get together, stopped by to have a meal, and each talked about the difficulty and what they heard along the way.

"Before I came here, I heard from my master that you should not get too close to scholars from other counties that you don't know. Some people don't pay attention to studying, but they are more concerned about hurting others. Because they are jealous of candidates who are better than themselves, they get acquainted. After trusting him, put laxatives or hypnotics in the people's tea, so that other candidates cannot take the provincial examination normally." Wen Han lowered his voice and said: "There are especially many scholars in the inn, good and bad are mixed together, brother Yang must live in the inn Be more thoughtful."

Yang Ye knew these things well, and those who were away from home naturally had to be more careful, let alone with Ah Xi.

"I wonder if Brother Yang has heard of one more thing?"

Yang Ye asked, "What's the matter?"

Li Cheng waved his fan and said with a smile, "Qin Mi was robbed on the way here."

Yang Ye frowned: "Snatched?"

"You have seen Qin Mi's wife. She wears gold and silver on weekdays, and even a small family is forced to look like a big family by her. This time she came to the provincial capital with Qin Mi for the exam. The soft sedan chair is set up on the road, and the sedan chair is too tired to sit for a long time on the road. In order to get to the provincial capital earlier, I ran into a robber on the small road, and all the things I brought were swept away. "

Ah Xi sat obediently in the corner and ate peanuts. He didn't intervene when the men talked, but he couldn't help but speak when he heard this: "Is the book utensils gone, too?"

"They were all taken away by the robbers. It's great that no one's life was hurt." Li Cheng said: "The carriage is gone, and the driver also ran away, so Qin Mi and his wife had to walk back to the official road, following people all the way I have to make preparations to go back to the exam, and I don’t know if it’s too late.”

Wen Han and Li Cheng talked about this matter with the mentality of watching the show, and the wicked have their own troubles. Everyone still remembers that Qin Mi made things difficult for Ah Xi when they held a banquet. In the past two years, Qin Mi has been in the county school for a long time. It's disgusting. Naturally, no one will sympathize with this incident.

Yang Ye said: "I should be able to pass the exam, but I must have been quite frightened after this incident. It is difficult to maintain a good attitude for the exam."

"It's his fault."

The three then talked about the township examination. Li Cheng said that roughly 2000 people took the exam this time, and less than [-]% of the people were admitted. This number is embarrassing, and the competitiveness has obviously increased significantly. Speaking of this, it is obvious that Wen Han's expression has become serious, and he is the one under the most pressure among the three.

Yang Ye exchanged winks with Li Cheng, Wen Han was not like the two of them who always had a relaxed mind, and when it came to a heavy place, he was always depressed, he was afraid that the pressure would be too great and he would be hindered from performing.

Li Cheng understood, and immediately changed the topic with a hippie smile.

"I said how brother Yang didn't come with us, so he brought Fu Lang with him, and he really couldn't do without one step."

Yang Ye gave Li Cheng a sideways look, and told him to blame him for other misbehaviors to wash himself off.

Ah Xi was a little embarrassed by the words: "I, I wanted to come out and have a look, so I begged Ah Ye to take me out."

Li Cheng said: "It's a good thing that we are here. The folk customs in this county are very open. If you don't pay close attention, maybe Brother Yang will have an extra side room when he goes back."

Wen Han couldn't help laughing: "Brother Li still said these things. I just walked with you just now, and I saw girls looking at you a lot along the way, and some bold ones even stepped forward and stuffed their handkerchiefs. I don't know if Brother Wen would like it." .”

"They're all vulgar. There are so many people in the street. I haven't seen anyone who can compare with Brother Yang's husband. After all, Brother Yang is lucky."

Yang Ye picked up a dish with chopsticks for Ah Xi, without raising his head, he just said, "That's up to you."

"Then you should take good care of Axi. If the people in the provincial capital don't respect ethics, it will be bad for them to mess around with their husbands."

Although what Li Cheng said was a joke, the words really reached Yang Ye's heart, and when he returned to the inn, he felt a little bit off.

It's not like this kind of thing didn't happen before, Huang Jin said it as a joke, but it really came true in the end, so why can't he be taboo.

He sat at the table and looked at Ah Xi who was folding clothes. The young man was slender and had an excellent waist. He looked good everywhere. Ah Xi has not really belonged to him yet.

It must be a lie to say that he does not covet Axi's body. The beauty lies next to him every day, and he can see it when he opens and closes his eyes. He has endured enough in the past two years.

He sighed, he had been waiting for so long, but he was not in a hurry.

When Ah Xi came over, he saw that he was in a trance, and took away the book in his hand: "No, don't you want to take a nap? Still not sleeping? I, I see that you are not in good spirits, so take a nap."

He squeezed the space between his eyebrows: "Alright." Instead of being distracted here, it's better to take a nap, and the body will relax after falling asleep.

After taking off his shoes and socks, he breathed a sigh of relief, and as soon as he lay down on the bed, he saw that Axi followed. The young man took off his coat and sat on the edge of the bed with his slippers on. He sat up: "You want to sleep too?"

Axi was a little surprised: "What, what's wrong? I, can't I sleep?"

Yang Ye's eyebrows moved, and he coughed dryly: "No, go to sleep."

Ah Xi lay down a little at a loss, he recalled what happened when he went out today, wondering if he said something wrong or did something wrong, Yang Ye didn't talk much when he came back, and now he said it so abnormally.

After thinking about it for a while, he couldn't figure out why, and turned over and shrank into Yang Ye's arms as usual, but today Yang Ye didn't hold him as usual, instead, he backed up a little, but it was just a small movement, but in Ah Xi's eyes But it turned into a big move.

He stretched out his hand to hug Yang Ye, and touched his arm at once. The temperature was abnormal, and Ah Xi sat up in panic, and then touched the person a few times: "Ah Ye, what's wrong with you? Yes, do you have a fever?" gone?"

Yang Ye's hands and feet have always been cold, like a piece of wood, but now it's like a stove. Seeing that the country test is coming, it would be good if he made some baskets.

Ah Xi was in a hurry, but seeing Yang Ye lying quietly on the bed, looking at him so straightly, he frowned: "Why don't you talk?"

I only heard Yang Ye sigh quietly, seemingly helpless and forbearing: "Don't touch it, it will be hotter if you touch it."

Ah Xi realized it later, his hands froze, his face turned red up to his ears, he closed his eyes, grabbed the corner of his back, and quickly covered himself tightly.

I thought it would be able to block the embarrassment, but unexpectedly the quilt was thrown off and Yang Ye pressed onto his body. In just a moment, the quilt covered the two of them, and Yang Ye's voice sounded in the darkness: "Axi, Let's consummate the house now."

Everything happened so suddenly, Ah Xi didn't know what mood he was in at the moment, he just felt his heartbeat beating like a drum: "The sky is bright and the sun is bright, no, it's not so...uh...."

The author has something to say: As we all know, the scale of the Great Green River (smile jpg)

Axi's picture has been posted on Weibo!